1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an improved method and system for data processing, and in particular to and improved method and system of user interface to a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and system within a data processing system for manipulating a plurality of graphical pointers utilizing a single graphical pointing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Within data processing systems, user interface is accomplished in a variety of ways. An increasingly common method of user interface is a graphical user interface (GUI), which provides a user with a graphical and intuitive display of information.
The technique universally used in data processing systems to interact with a GUI display is to display a single graphical pointer within the display device, which a user may control with a graphical pointing device, such as a mouse, track ball, or joystick. Utilizing the graphical pointing device, a user may select a point at the position indicated by the graphical pointer by depressing a button associated with the graphical pointing device. The response of the data processing system to the user's selection is determined by the application or operating system software. For example, in some data processing systems, if the point selected is within an object or icon displayed within the display device, the user can relocate the object or icon utilizing the drag-and-drop technique well-known in the art. Conventionally, the motion of the graphical pointer within the GUI display is linearly related to the movement of the graphical pointing device. For example, if a user moves the graphical pointing device 2 units to the right, the graphical pointer responds by moving 2 scaled units to the right within the display.
Word processing programs and other similar applications often provide a cursor in addition to the graphical pointer. Utilizing the graphical pointing device, a user may position the cursor at locations within the display, by clicking on a mouse button. Cursors and other indicia of position are distinguished from graphical pointers in that they do not move in conjunction with the graphical pointer in response to operation of the graphical pointing device.
Although utilizing a graphical pointer provides an intuitive method of user interaction with a GUI display, it is often inefficient, particularly if the display consists of multiple windows, or a single display which is large or complex. For example, if a display includes five separate windows in which a user is manipulating objects, a large portion of the time required to complete a task is spent traversing the display with the graphical pointer. The inefficiency is greatest when the task requires repetitive switching between the different windows.
Consequently, it would be desirable to have an improved method and system for manipulating a plurality of graphical pointers within a display utilizing a single graphical pointing device.